James Reimer Could Return This Weekend
- The Sharks could get James Reimer back this weekend, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. The veteran is currently on IR with a lower-body injury, his second one from November but he’s eligible to be activated as early as Saturday. San Jose plays both Saturday and Sunday so there’s a good chance he’ll be able to suit up for one of those. Reimer has a 3.00 GAA and a .903 SV% in 15 starts so far this season.
James Reimer Moved To Injured Reserve
When the San Jose Sharks recalled Aaron Dell over the weekend, it suggested that James Reimer‘s injury might be hampering him more than originally thought. The veteran netminder had played through it against the Los Angeles Kings, but didn’t look himself, allowing four goals on 28 shots. Today, the Sharks have decided to shut him down for at least a few days, moving Reimer to injured reserve and recalling Jeffrey Viel in the process.
Reimer, 34, has played in 15 games so far this season and has alternated between outstanding performances and struggles behind a leaky Sharks team. He has allowed four or more goals in seven games, but two or fewer in six. It has added up to a .903 save percentage but there have been times when San Jose would have been run out of the building without his acrobatic performance.
Behind him is Kaapo Kahkonen, who hasn’t been able to pull off the feat quite as often. The younger netminder has a 2-5-2 record and .871 save percentage through nine games. Dell, meanwhile, hasn’t posted acceptable NHL numbers since 2019-20, and shouldn’t be getting much playing time even if Reimer is held out for a longer period of time.
The Sharks likely won’t be able to avoid it, though, as they have two back-to-back situations coming up this week. The team will play tomorrow in Montreal, Wednesday in Toronto, Saturday in Ottawa, and Sunday in Buffalo, before returning home. Since Reimer must miss a minimum of seven days (since his last appearance), the best case is that he returns in time for the game against the Sabres.
It could be a tough week for the struggling Sharks, who now sit seventh in the Pacific Division and have lost three in a row.
San Jose Sharks Recall Scott Harrington
The San Jose Sharks announced this afternoon that they’ve recalled defenseman Scott Harrington from the San Jose Barracuda, their AHL affiliate. No corresponding transaction was announced, however it does come a day after the team placed defenseman Mario Ferraro on IR. The recall gives the Sharks a full 23-man squad, but more importantly, seven defenseman on the roster for this evening’s game against the Vancouver Canucks.
Harrington, 29, signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Sharks back in September to serve as key defensive depth for San Jose as the team works through its (bigger picture) roster transition. The defenseman has bounced between both levels so far this season, getting into a pair of games for the Sharks, where he’s recorded one assist, as well as five games for the Barracuda, including an assist there too.
The veteran defenseman, a second-round pick of the Penguins back in 2011, made his NHL debut in 2014-15 as a member of those Penguins, but spent the bulk of his career in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization, primarily serving as depth. Last season, Harrington had his first AHL work since 2016-17, where he played in 50 games for the Cleveland Monsters, the Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate. Given his shuffle in the San Jose organization thus far, it’s unclear what the plan for Harrington is right now, but with the absence of Ferraro on the backend, there could be some extra minutes to go around for the Sharks.
San Jose Sharks Place Mario Ferraro On Injured Reserve
The San Jose Sharks have placed defenseman Mario Ferraro on injured reserve, according to the team’s media relations department. The 24-year-old defenseman is poised to miss at least a week-long stretch of time.
Ferraro registered a shot on goal, four blocks, and a -1 rating in 21:05 of ice time in last night’s loss to the Los Angeles Kings. The team has not commented on the nature of Ferraro’s injury, when he sustained it, or any potential timeline.
San Jose signed Ferraro to a four-year extension last summer, a reward for the heavy minutes he’s logged in the past two seasons. His play has dipped this year, though, with his role less certain and defensive weaknesses more exposed. His -14 rating is the worst on the team.
Nick Cicek will draw into the Sharks lineup for Ferraro, at least in the short term. The 22-year-old undrafted defenseman was recently called up and has two assists in his first five NHL games.
And while Ferraro hasn’t been his best to start the year, his minutes have kept up, playing nearly 23 minutes per game. How the Sharks replace those minutes with a depleted defense core is a fair question to ask. It’s not a realistic expectation to increase the workload of Erik Karlsson, who’s already averaging over 25 minutes per game. They’ll need veteran players like Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Matt Benning to step up unless Cicek is able to surprise.
San Jose Sharks Recall Aaron Dell
Nov. 26: Dell is now back up with the Sharks, giving San Jose three goalies on their active roster for the time being.
Nov 25: After Reimer missed a game this week, he’s ready to go again and will start for the Sharks today. Dell has been returned to the AHL.
Nov 22: In a curious move, the San Jose Sharks have recalled Aaron Dell from the minor leagues, giving them a third goaltender on the roster. James Reimer was present at yesterday’s skate and Kaapo Kahkonen was outstanding in the team’s win over the Ottawa Senators.
Dell’s recall would suggest there might be an injury, though it is unclear which goaltender would be unavailable at this point. The Sharks are scheduled to travel to Seattle to take on the Kraken in a match tomorrow night, before returning to San Jose for a mini two-game homestand over the weekend.
In seven games for the San Jose Barracuda, Dell has posted a .904 save percentage. The 33-year-old netminder is back with the organization that gave him a chance at the NHL level, icing him 107 times over four seasons. Dell has struggled since leaving San Jose, and appears to be nothing more than a third or fourth-string option at this point.
Kahkonen stopped 37 of 38 saves against the Senators, bringing his save percentage up to .894 on the season. Reimer, the team’s starter, has a .906 in 14 appearances so far.
San Jose Sharks Activate Radim Simek, Place Nico Sturm On IR
The San Jose Sharks have announced that they have activated defenseman Radim Simek off of injured reserve.
Additionally, the team has announced that forward Nico Sturm has been placed on injured reserve.
Simek, 30, was originally placed on injured reserve on November 14th, landing there after taking a hit from Minnesota Wild forward Mason Shaw. Simek has one goal in 17 games so far this season and is skating in just under 15 minutes a night.
Undrafted defensive prospect Nick Cicek had been recalled from AHL San Jose in Simek’s place, and now that the Czech blueliner is back it’s possible Cicek is returned to the AHL.
But since Sturm is heading onto injured reserve, there’s no need for the Sharks to make an immediate corresponding move. Sturm, 27, arrived in San Jose in the offseason as a free agent, signing a $2MM AAV deal that expires in the summer of 2025.
The former Colorado Avalanche center won a Stanley Cup last season and has gotten off to a relatively hot start so far this year, scoring six goals and eight points in 20 games.
While those numbers might not scream “hot start” in a vacuum, Sturm scored just nine goals 74 games last year, so his scoring this year is a bit of a surprise.
Landing now on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, Sturm will hope to have a speedy recovery so he can return to the Sharks lineup and pick up where he left off.
Latest On Timo Meier
- San Jose Sharks forward Timo Meier isn’t a pending unrestricted free agent, but his expensive qualifying offer (he’s making $10MM this season on just a $6MM cap hit) and the current state of the Sharks (7-11-3, 25th in the NHL) leads one to believe that his time in San Jose could be coming to an end. Seravalli writes that it’s “unlikely” that the Sharks commit to a long-term pact with Meier, meaning a trade could be the most likely outcome for his future in teal. According to Seravalli, Meier’s “starting value on the [trade] market is considerably less than the Alex DeBrincat deal last summer,” the deal that netted the Blackhawks three draft picks, including the seventh-overall selection.
Latest On Trade Market For Defensemen
Mentioning the market for defense in the NHL immediately brings to mind at least two things: Jakob Chychrun and the Ottawa Senators, both as they are separately, and the rumors connecting the defenseman to Canada’s capitol. With Chychrun having been on IR to finish last season and now to start this season, the rumors surrounding the 24-year-old had been a bit quieter than usual, but expected to tick up with his return on Monday.
Tonight on Hockey Night in Canada’s 32 Thoughts segment, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman seemed to confirm this inevitability, expecting talks on Chychrun to begin heating up once the defenseman returns. Another interesting note from Friedman on the Coyotes and their defensemen is the possibility of a trade involving Conor Timmins. A second-round pick in 2017, Timmins’ prospect status has never really been in question, at least for his on-ice performance. Instead, injuries have derailed the 24-year-old’s career. Now on a conditioning stint in the AHL, Timmins appears to be fully healthy and soon to be ready for NHL action, causing Friedman to wonder if Arizona might pursue a trade market for Timmins as well.
A newer name added to the defensemen speculation is San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson. Once thought to be unmovable, Karlsson is off to an incredible start, on pace to set several career-bests already, scoring 11 goals along with 17 assists in just 19 games on the season. With four years left at an $11.5MM cap hit after this season, Karlsson will be incredibly difficult for the Sharks to move even with his historic production, but it just may make doing so possible for the rebuilding San Jose squad. According to Friedman, this also from 32 Thoughts, the Sharks haven’t gotten that far yet in any Karlsson talks. As Friedman says, the belief is that Karlsson has not yet been asked to move his no-movement clause, at least not for any specific team.
Friedman adds that he believes the Sharks are currently trying to determine what other teams are willing to do in regards to the rest of the contract. Of course the Sharks and their potential trade partner will have to work out how much, if any, San Jose retains on the remaining contract and what assets they could get back for Karlsson, which would hinge on how much the Sharks would retain.
One team looking for defense that many want to see on the shortlist to acquire Karlsson would be the Ottawa Senators. Their search for a defenseman in the early part of this season has been well documented and Chychrun has been the number one name associated with them. As reported by Friedman on 32 Thoughts earlier, it is believed Ottawa did try to work on a deal that would have sent Nikita Zaitsev to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Tyler Myers, but the deal did not get far enough for Myers, who has a modified no-trade clause, to be asked for permission. Other pieces would have presumably had to be involved to make the deal work for both sides, but that sort of swap would have benefitted Vancouver to the tune of $1.5MM in cap savings while giving Ottawa the defenseman they’ve been looking for and allowing them to get out from under the Zaitsev contract.
Scott Harrington Clears Waivers
November 18: Harrington has cleared waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The Sharks are now free to assign him to the AHL.
November 17: For the second time this season, Scott Harrington has been placed on waivers, according to Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets. The veteran defenseman had previously cleared on October 13 and needed them again (after spending more than a month on the active roster) if the San Jose Sharks wanted to send him down.
Harrington, 29, has only played two games during that stretch and neither of them came this month. It’s been a long time since he actually got onto the ice, last suiting up for the Sharks’ October 22 game against the New Jersey Devils. With the team now home for three games, they can afford to loan him to the San Jose Barracuda for some game action to keep him sharp, though Harrington will likely remain a call-up option for them throughout the year.
That is of course unless he is claimed, which isn’t entirely out of the question. Signed to a one-year, two-way deal that carries a cap hit of just $750K, there are worse options on NHL rosters around the league. Harrington has over 200 games of NHL experience and was a rather effective option just a few years ago. While he won’t light up the scoresheet with points, he could represent an upgrade over some sixth or seventh defensemen.
Still, as always with these depth players hitting waivers, a claim remains the more unlikely outcome. If he clears, the Barracuda play a back-to-back this weekend in Tucson where he could make his AHL season debut.
Karlsson Responds To Trade Speculation
The hockey hot stove has been abuzz ever since San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier explained that he would listen to calls about star defenseman Erik Karlsson, but there’s one thing that much of the speculation seems to overlook. Karlsson has a full no-trade clause all the way through his contract, which keeps him wrapped up through 2026-27. He would need to sign off on any deal, so Corey Masisak of The Athletic asked him whether he would:
Suffice it to say, the 32-year-old isn’t interested in throwing any more gas onto the fire. Instead, he’ll just continue to rack up points in a resurgent year for the Sharks. Karlsson has 24 points in 18 games and played a whopping 34:12 on Sunday against the Minnesota Wild. Averaging the most ice time since he arrived in San Jose, he looks poised for a vintage season near the top of the defenseman scoring list.